Story 1: The Rise of the Saiyans
by Lanzo
Summary: This is the first of ten stories in what I call the Teen Saiyans saga. The characters in this story are all original, but Dragon Ball Z is the property of its writer, Akira Toriyama.
1. Chapter 1: Divine Intervention

"Mike, come here a second!" Paul Welch yelled down the stairs to his son. He was moving some boxes which were marked only with _"Handle With Care". _Paul knew what they contained, but he also knew that if the boxes were handled with care, nothing would happen.

"Okay, I'll be right up!" Mike shouted back from his post at the computer. He spent a great deal of his time at that computer, more than he cared to admit. He was in football, and up until recently had been in wrestling. He had given it up for reasons unknown to everyone except Mike. He knew that wrestlers and coaches alike would hound him, but he had finally decided that he still didn't want to. Even he wasn't sure as to why, but he had made his choice. There was no turning back now.

"Mike, get your ass up here! I have to get this back to work!" Paul shouted down the stairs again. He loved Mike, but the kid didn't listen worth a damn. He had no discipline. He also loved pushing his luck as far as homework - he didn't like to do it, and was finally forced to when his dad started to keep in touch with every single teacher he had via e-mail.

"Sorry, here I come," Mike said as he turned off the computer and headed upstairs. He took two stairs with every stride, counting as he went. The floor beneath the first step was one, then he stepped to 3, then 5. The floor above the staircase was fifteen. He saw some big boxes on the table and counter in the kitchen, marked _"Handle With Care." _"Hey Dad, what's in these boxes?" Mike asked.

Paul kept his cool, and made a joke to avoid the subject until later. "These are the parts of teenagers who ask me dumb questions," he said with a grin as he pushed Mike. "Oh, well in that case," Mike said as he pushed his dad back. This turned into a playful scuffle, which Paul won. He always did. Despite his 50 years of age and beer belly, he was remarkably strong. He also knew all the ways to stop someone from attacking or even defending themselves. He had been in the Vietnam War, and learned all these things over thirty years ago. But they stuck with him, clear as a bell. Mike was strong, there was no doubt about that, but Paul was also faster.

Mike grinned again as they got up and started to move the boxes out to the car. "Someday, I'm going to beat you," he grinned as they began to load the boxes into the car.

They pulled into Lasertech Energy, where Paul was an engineer, and parked the tan Chevy TrailBlazer that Paul drove near his cubicle, in the Engineering Department. Paul unlocked the door, and brought out a cart. Mike and Paul started to put the boxes onto the cart, and pushed in through the door. "These have to go in the supply room," Paul told Mike as he pushed the cart down the hallways of the dark building. Mike wondered why the boxes were supposed to be put back on Saturday. When his dad opened the door, a few other men were standing in there. "Hey, Paul" was the greeting from every man there.

"Hey, guys," Paul said back. Mike pushed the cart into the room, and started to pick up a box. "Where should I put these?" he asked.

Paul pushed the box back down onto the cart. "We'll take care of it from here." Mike was then shooed outside, and the door closed. He could still hear what the men said as he pressed his ear to the vent on the bottom of the door. He was curious as to why these dumb boxes were so special. They weren't even all that heavy.

"Okay, boys. Let's put the thing together," Paul said as the four men in the room started to open the boxes. They read some simple instructions packaged inside the box, and assembled what appeared to be a space-age cannon. "Wow, this big thing is supposed to supply an endless amount of energy?" one of the man asked.

"Yeah," Paul responded. "We turn it by hand for a little while, and then it'll run off the energy it makes. It's very efficient, but you have to be damn careful when you use it. It fires a beam of pure energy. That's how it works, it's like a battery charger. Put some of these where we have substations now, it's cheaper and more efficient."

"So in other words, we're going to be rich," one of the men said.

"Oh, yeah. Income of all the employees is supposed to be doubled if this works. For the four of us, it's tripled. But better yet, you guys won't have to do as much work to earn your money."

"Yeah, but you got screwed on that part, Paul," One man chuckled. "You're an engineer. You have to make sure more of these bastards are cooked up."

Paul laughed. "Yeah, I know. But it's worth it. Now let's try and energize something with it, make sure it won't just punch a hole into whatever it touches."

The men put on safety goggles, and began to crank the handle on the side until there were a few sparks. Then, there was a steady electrical current. The handle fell off, just like it was supposed to, and the axle it was on spun faster. The electrical current became a low hum, and the entire rear chamber glowed a sky blue. Mike cracked the door, and the magnetic power of the machine slowly but firmly pulled it open. The door was wide open, and Mike stood in the doorway.

"Jesus, Mike! Put these on!" Paul said as he tossed Mike a pair of safety goggles. Mike reached up to grab them, and the magnetic forces pulled the end of the machine toward the doorway, and consequently toward Mike.

It reached energy discharge state once it pointed at Mike. A beam of brilliant blue struck Mike squarely in the chest. His eyes bulged, and he recoiled slightly - but was not blown through the door. Paul looked on in horror, thinking that his son had been run through with the energy. But, he then saw that the beam never went through Mike's back. It simply struck him. And the machine showed no signs of overload.

"Good God, he's absorbing the energy," Paul said. He turned off the machine, and Mike slowly sank to the floor.

Inside of Mike's head, he remembered what his biology teacher had told him about ATP, the molecule that cells use to get energy. He then realized that his cells had an alternate power source. The energy he had just been hit with had flowed into every cell in Mike's body. It broke down all unnecessary fats, turning them into still more energy for the cells to take in. Then, Mike felt a sort of control switch instinct inside his mind, a way to gauge how much of this energy to use and how to use it. He then blacked out.

Mike came to at home, in his own bed. "Oh, thank God you're okay," his mom said as she held him. Tears flowed from her eyes. His whole family was watching over him. They all had dried tears on their faces. His nephew, Timothy, was still crying, but only because he was scared and didn't know why everyone else was making so much noise. They all looked relieved to see Mike sit up. Mike wasn't quite sure what had happened to him, and neither was anyone else. "Wow, I think that I'm okay. But, I'm really not even sure."

"That doesn't matter, you're fine. But don't scare us like that again," his mother told him. Mike wasn't exactly sure what to think, but he knew that something was different.

After his family left him for a minute, he went into the bathroom and looked at himself in the mirror. His mouth fell open.

All the excess fat he was trying to get rid of was gone. He looked like he had been weightlifting all his life. Also, his pores had been cleaned out. His face was as clear as it had ever been. He beamed. He didn't know what the downsides were to what had just happened to him, but he didn't really care. He was cute. He flexed a little in the mirror, and then went back upstairs.

As Mike lay in bed that night, he fell asleep very quickly. He dreamed, and for the first time it was a dream he could remember.

He was floating through the air, with some of his friends. He recognized Mack, his friend since kindergarten, Dan, his friend since the 6th grade, his brother, Matt, and his girlfriend Sarah. His friend, James, flew in with the rest. Then, a guy he knew from school - Joe Cunningham - floated up in front of them all. He laughed aloud. Mike felt anger rise up, but it wasn't normal. His anger was a very real force, akin to heat or electricity. He could feel it coursing through him, and it was so real it was almost tangible. He wanted to throw his anger at Joe, so he pointed at him.

Much to his surprise, his anger flowed to his finger and fired as a beam of light. Mike couldn't help but smile. But, Joe batted the light off to his side. He then held his hand above his head, and a ball of light formed. Joe threw it at the group, and they were all engulfed.

Mike awoke with a start, and saw a glow fading, as if someone had turned on a light and dimmed it upon his awakening. He felt strangely warm, and had kicked all of the sheets on his bed to the foot of the bed. he pulled them back up, and went back to sleep.

Mike awoke as he heard footsteps upstairs. He felt a little deflated. He hoped that his dad would forget, just once, and he could sleep in. But, he then heard footsteps. His door cracked open slightly, and he prepared for an all-too-familiar exchange.

"Hey, Mike?"

"Yeah, Dad."

"Wanna get up for church?"

_Not particularly,_ ran through Mike's head. But he knew there would be hell to pay if he didn't respond with

"Sure."

He then heard the same exchange between his dad and his brother. He threw off the sheets, and headed for the bathroom to take his shower. When he turned on the light, he was shocked again to see what stared back at him in the mirror.

His body didn't appear to have an ounce of fat! He still couldn't get over that. He turned on the water, and let it run for a moment until it was hot. He used this time to think, like he always did.

_Man, this is weird. I get hit by a perpetual energy machine, and instead of dying like I should have I lose all my body fat. Wonder if I'm any stronger._

He checked the water. It was perfect. He stepped into the stream of water, and immediately felt better. He let the water pour over him for a while. It was a bliss that almost negated the early rising that he despised so much. It brought a smile to his face.

After his shower, he opened his brother's door. He then recited another painfully common morning exchange.

"Matt?"

"Yeah?"

"Time to get up."

"'Kay."

Mike then returned to his own room to put in his contacts. After doing so, he went back to bed to lie and think for a while, and perhaps doze. He thought more about what had happened, and still couldn't make any sense of it. He knew damn well that he should be toast. But, for whatever reason, he was still exchanging oxygen.

_What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Well, I must have gotten thrashed pretty good because I'm in phenomenal shape. _He then stopped pondering life, and got dressed to go to church.

When he kneeled to pray, Mike felt a divine presence very near him. It was as if he was channeling the will of God through his own body. He then prayed for guidance.

_Hey God, it's Mike again. I'm sure you remember my frenzied pleading when getting shot by that machine. Well, now that I've begged not to die I'm curious as to why I survived. Any guidance would be appreciated._

Mike then felt a compelling desire to do something. He realized there was no server to help the priest. He walked up and offered to take the job. The priest sent him to the back to get a robe and get ready. When he did, he was struck in the face by a low-hanging crucifix.

His rage welled up inside of him, much more than what was reasonable, so much so that he wanted to scream. He wanted to hit something. He wanted to do anything to get rid of this overwhelming anger that he felt.

Then, he snapped.

A burst of golden light came forth, and a flame of this energy was created and maintained by Mike's very life force, surrounding him. His hair flew into the air, and he felt it warm substantially. He then had a deeper knowledge of what had happened.

_The Lord changed me when this happened. I've become something not quite human. This energy can be used to manipulate matter, increase my physical strength, and even can be used as a weapon. I've changed into something more. This should be interesting._

As the mass continued, Mike was asked to bring forth the book for the priest to read from. He activated a small part of this energy that he had, held his arms open, his elbows at his sides, and levitated the book. The priest looked at it, and was shocked. "You are a very fortunate young man," he told Mike. "This day God is truly with us."

Mike smiled. "Actually, God has always been here. He just decided to make his presence known a bit through me." Mike closed his eyes.

"Observe," he said as the pages in the book began to turn. It closed, then opened again. Mike levitated himself a bit, his feet together, arms still open. He then balled a fist, and bent his arms slightly but forcefully down - as if bringing something forth from within himself.

This is exactly what he did as his hair stood up again, he felt the warmth, the strength, flowing even into his hair. The aura of life force warmed him thoroughly. A roar of surprise went through the congregation. Mike beamed with pride, but then stopped showing off and allowed the mass to continue as usual.


	2. Chapter 2: Steep Learning Curve

"What the hell were you doing in there?" Mike's dad demanded when they were in the car. "You had to show off with your damn blond hair tricks, or whatever, in church?" Mike sat silently. He knew better than to respond when his dad asked these questions. The drive home was silent and uneventful. When they finally reached their destination, Paul decided to vent more frustration at his son's actions. "Damn it, you had to show off." Mike's frustration also grew. He closed his eyes and thought to himself, _I don't want to sit here and listen to this, I don't want to be here, I need to clear my head, I would much rather be at Dan's house._

When he opened his eyes, he was on the lawn of his friend, Dan's, house. "Whoa," Mike said to no one in particular. "I didn't know that could actually work." Dan's dad then opened the door.

"Hey, Mike," he said with a gesture of invitation inside the door. "Dan's upstairs, but he didn't tell me that you were coming."

"Yeah, it kind of just came together a little while ago," Mike said as he walked in. He headed up the stairs, and saw that Dan's room at the end of the hallway was closed. _Hmm. Don't see that too often,_ he thought to himself. He then made a rather blunt realization:

_I have to take a leak._

He headed for the bathroom, but was shocked at what he saw staring back at him in the mirror. "Okay, this is almost too much," he said. "This is almost too cool."

His hair had become a platinum blonde, and was standing straight up, as if he had used every hair styling product imaginable while hanging upside down. His eyes had also become a brilliant green, and his skin tone was lighter. _Only downside is, I lost what little tan I had before,_ Mike thought to himself as he walked out of the bathroom. He heard Dan's door open, and turned around. Dan was looking back at him, a countenance of shock on his face.

"Mike? Is that you?" Dan said as he looked at his friend, now more puzzled than anything.

"I think so," Mike responded. "But I'll be the first to admit that this doesn't look like me."

"Man, what the hell happened?"

Dan sat back, taking in everything Mike had just explained to him. "Wow, that's cool. Throw an energy ball."

Mike smiled. "You know the sad part? I've tried to do this before I had any of these superpowers," he said as he concentrated his energy into the palm of his hand. Much to his surprise, it worked. A small ball of golden energy sat in his hand. He looked at Dan. "Hey, catch!" he said as he tossed it to Dan.

Dan was struck squarely in the chest, and knocked to the ground. He lay there for a moment, trying to get his wind back. Mike ran over to see if he was okay.

"Dude, I'm sorry. You alright?" he asked.

Dan grinned at him, and raised his middle finger. "Dude, you've got to teach me how to do that," he said.

Somewhere in Mike's mind, something registered telling him that it wouldn't be hard to do. "Okay, but first I think that something this cool calls for 'nucks'.

Dan nodded in agreement, and they both balled a fist. When their knuckles struck each other, a wave of energy was transferred from Mike's arm and flowed through Dan's body.

"That's the best I can do. The rest is up to you," Mike said. "My abilities manifested when I got angry. Don't know if that's the only way, but it worked for me." He then saw that Dan was in the doorway. He wanted to go get a soda, and wished that he could just go through him, for whatever reason.

Two clones burst forth from in front of Mike, and two more burst forth from behind him. He could see through each of them, and knew that this power could prove useful: making the clones of himself had changed his density. He then pulled them back together, and thought about density changes. His entire physiology transformed into water, and then he decided that he wanted more density instead of less. His body then solidified, and took on an impressive shine, like that of polished chrome. But Mike knew somehow that it was, in truth, titanium. He wondered how he knew about all these things that he could do. Then that dawned on him as well: _These powers are a result of divine intervention. I'm sure God is the one turning the light on when I grasp a concept about my new abilities._

"Holy crap," Dan said after witnessing the whole spectacle. "That was sweet."

Mike grinned a bit. "Yeah, but I should head back home right away. My dad's probably wondering how I vanished into thin air."

"You can vanish?" Dan inquired upon hearing this.

Mike's only response was to desire to be back home. He closed his eyes. When he opened them, he was outside, by his dad's car.

"Where did you go?" his dad asked him.

Mike shrugged, as if something cosmic hadn't just happened. "To Dan's house." He then went inside, and decided to do for Matt what he'd done for Dan.

After a day at school that was utterly uneventful except for Mike seeing his girlfriend, the two brothers came home.

"So, did you talk to Sarah again?" Matt said.

"Yup," Mike responded. This girl was different, so different from any Mike had known before.

She was tall, even by his standards. She had long, light brown hair, a slight tan, and a slender figure - which she never made it a point to flaunt. However, her crowning feature was her smile. She had a smile that could melt Mike, with all his incredible abilities, into no more than a normal boy. She wasn't what a lot of guys would consider a 'hottie', but Mike was crazy about her. He couldn't begin to describe how he felt for her, she was more than he felt he deserved.

Mike snapped from his trance when Matt asked if he wanted to spar. He grinned. The only thing he liked even half as much as being with Sarah was the feeling of raw energy coursing through his entire body, a plainly visible aura. It was an incredible rush.

Matt and Mike both floated to the roof of the house. They then flew up into the air. From how high up they were, they could both see the entire section of land their family owned. They then summoned their energies, and burst into auras of power - Matt's a brilliant blue, Mike's an impressive gold. They then started to fight.

Neither of them had taken a martial arts lesson in their lives, but they made up their own style. With the strength and speed at their disposal, they both became very good, very fast. After only a month of training with each other, both could reach greater levels of transformations.

The original change in appearance caused their hair to point upward, in three or four clusters, and turn a platinum blonde. Their skin tone was lightened, and their eyes turned green.

The next stage was a subtle change in outward appearance, but a massive increase in what they were capable of. The spikes of blonde hair were more defined, and more numerous. Muscle definition also increased slightly.

The third stage was a radical change in appearance. The eyebrows would disappear, and the blonde hair would grow - to the point where the spikes ended at about the calf muscles. Muscle size and definition both increased in this transformation.

But none of the three could hold a candle to the fourth for sheer changes in physical appearance. The hair shortened, extending only to the small of the back. A lock of hair fell over each shoulder, and the hair turned a dark black. The spikes became random, pointing in all directions except for the two over each shoulder. The eyes became a haunting amber, and red outlines appeared on the outer edges and bottom of the eyes. Also, the body was covered in fur except the pectoral muscles, top two abdominal muscles, hands, face and neck. Whatever shirt or upper body covering or armor was previously there was destroyed in this transformation. Muscle mass and definition increased, with a dramatic increase in muscle mass at the shoulders.

The brothers were astonished at their abilities to mimic the transformations of the characters of the popular anime series _Dragon Ball Z._ They referred to themselves as Saiyans, after the alien warrior race of the same show. At first the boys had worried if a lawsuit was possible should they become famous and the show's creators find out, but they used their instant transmission abilities to have a chat with Akira Toriyama, the man who created the series. He allowed the boys to use these titles, and was astonished to see them in real life.

The two began to unleash punches and kicks to each other that would turn any boulder to dust. But each had newfound endurance to match their strength and speed, and could block the attacks, and be struck with the ones they couldn't block and not be decapitated. The two pushed each other to the limits, both reaching the final transformation before Matt struck Mike with a kick to the face that would smash any diamond to bits. Mike was stopped cold, and fell to the ground. Matt unleashed a volley of pure energy attacks, and Mike mounted a defense just before being pummeled with the blasts. He then extended one hand toward Matt, and placed the other on his extended forearm. He focused his energy into his extended hand, and Matt prepared to defend against the attack.

Matt charged up his own attack, in an attempt to counter the blast. He brought his hands to his sides, and then assumed a battle stance - knees bent, arms bent at the elbow, fist pointed forward and slightly outward, and focused his energy to his own heart.

Mike sprung to his feet, and shouted the words _"Loose Cannon!!"_ as the blast flew. It was a golden beam, approximately 20 feet wide.

Matt screamed as a crimson blast fired from his chest, the same width as Mike's attack. The two collided in midair.

Mike planted his feet, and tried to focus more power into his arm. Matt's battle stance grew more tense, his face more focused. The two both tried to overpower the other, but eventually both grew weary and fell. The energy waves dissipated. Mike sank back to the ground he had been standing on, and Matt fell to within a few feet of him. Both lost their fur and eyebrows, and their hair grew longer and blonde. Then, the hair shortened, and became well-defined wisps as the eyebrows grew back. The wisps then became less defined. Finally, the hair settled into its original color and place, as did the eyes.

Matt fired a small blast at Mike, so weak that someone could have deflected it without having awakened their power. "Last hit," he huffed. "I win."

Mike looked at him, still trying to regain his breath. "Fine," he said. "I'll make," he huffed, "the sandwiches."


	3. Chapter 3: New Recruits

_Damn alarm. Why do you have to go off so early?_

Mike dragged himself from bed, wishing that he still had a car. It made waking up in the morning a lot easier. _If I'd been in that accident now,_ Mike thought, _this wouldn't be an issue. I'd have just held on tight and transmitted to school. _

But Mike's collision with a power pole had not been at the right time, so he was forced to take the bus again. He walked into the bathroom, and repeated the process he was so used to. He closed his eyes, knowing that having them open would hurt when the lights came on.

He flicked the switches, turning on the lights in his bathroom and illuminating his closed eyes with a brilliant red. It slowly faded, and Mike turned on the water. As he allowed it to run until it reached the temperature he liked, he thought about how things were.

_So far, this power isn't so bad. I'm stronger, faster, have more ability to concentrate, and I love the hair. But in all the movies I've seen, things like this happen for a reason. And since God himself awakened these powers, I'm sure it'll be something big._

The water was the way he liked it, and he pulled up the knob on the faucet. The showerhead turned on, and Mike stepped in. He let the water flow over him for a while, soothing him. He continued to ponder what the ramifications of this energy might be.

_I can fly, change my density, clone myself, instantly transmit anywhere, manipulate matter and clothing, summon an energy aura that makes homeostasis much easier, and use pure energy as a weapon. You'd think there would be no downsides._

_But I'm smarter than that. The Lord himself doesn't endow you with heavenly power just so that your social life and schoolwork are made easier. These came for a reason. And I'm going to find out what it is, sooner or later. And when I do, I don't think it's going to be pretty._

_Something dangerous is coming. I'm probably the only defense. Well, now that I've awakened the power of Matt and Dan, and trained with them both for a while, maybe they'll be of some help. But I'd better recruit some other help. I need to energize Mack and James as well, and probably Sarah. I don't want her to be vulnerable for any reason. Not only can people get to me through her, but she might be interested in going for a little jaunt through the clouds. Which reminds me._

Mike then turned off the water, and activated an aura. The water on his body was evaporated in a few seconds. He then got dressed, brushed his teeth, and went upstairs to wait for the bus.

A few minutes later, Matt joined him. The two sat down, waiting for the bus to pull up. Once it arrived, they got on and prepared to relax and enjoy a little country drive.

Mike walked into the cafeteria, and saw his friend Mack hanging out there before class, just like any other day. He walked up to him, a huge grin on his face.

"Hey Mack, ever wish you could transform into a Super Saiyan?"

Mack looked at him. "Yeah, that'd be awesome. Everything would be so much easier."

Mike then powered up, his hair turning blond and standing on end, his eyes turning green, his skin tone lightening, and a golden aura washing over him. Mack's jaw dropped, and everyone nearby looked to see Mike, his energy pulsating.

Dan then stood up, and activated a green aura. Mack was about to faint.

"Holy crap, that is so cool!" he told Mike. "How did you do that?" Mike then held out a fist, as if waiting for nucks, and Mack obliged. A golden energy wave flowed from Mike's arm, and washed over Mack. A red aura burst forth from Mack's body, and he fired a red energy blast toward the wall. Mike shook his head, chased down the blast, caught it by the tail, and blew it out as if it were a candle. He then headed back to the group, and found James. "Now it's your turn," he said as he repeated the process. James's aura was blue. The four warriors then powered down, and headed to their classes.

At the end of Mike's second period drafting class, he headed into the hallway. He usually could find Sarah now, and today was one of those days. The two started to walk down the hallway to Sarah's locker, and they talked a bit as they went.

"Hey," Sarah said as Mike caught up with her.

"Hey," was Mike's response as he reached for her hand. She gave it to him, smiling a bit. "You seem happy," she told him.

"Well, of course I am. Watch what I can do." Mike then transformed into a Super Saiyan, and Sarah was astonished.

"What did you just do?" she asked him, looking at him with wide eyes. Mike smiled, and squeezed her hand a bit.

"I just became a Super Saiyan," he said. When she gave him a look of confusion, he relayed the important parts of the story. She then smiled. "Well, if you did that for all of your friends, why can't you do it for me?" she said.

"That was going to be my next move, actually," Mike said as a wave of energy flowed from his hand into Sarah's, and throughout her entire body. She activated a pure white aura, and hit Mike with that smile that he could never resist. He was so elated to see it that he transformed, and the two walked down the hall. Finally, they stopped at Sarah's locker.

"You're gong to be late again, aren't you?" she said. Mike had walked with her before, and been late to his math class on a few occasions. Mike smiled, and hugged Sarah. "Not a problem," he said as he extended his index and middle fingers, and put them to his forehead. He then disappeared, and instantly reappeared in his math class.

"Hey Mike," Alicia said when she saw him. Alicia was one of Mike's closest friends, and he was thankful that she got along with Sarah. If not, that would have created one hell of a dilemma. Alicia was the stereotypical pretty girl - tall, blond hair, blue eyes, and fair skin. Mike admitted that she was pretty, but in his eyes no one could compare to Sarah. She also knew just about everything there was to know about Mike - or she had up until recently.

"Hey, Alicia," was Mike's response. He smiled at her as he pulled out his things for class.

"You certainly look different," she said. "I like the hair, and the colored contacts are neat, too. But you look like you've lost a lot of weight, too."

Mike grinned. "I have. In fact, I'm light as air," he said as he levitated off of the ground. Alicia stared at him, her mouth hanging slightly open. The rest of the math class then noticed their floating, blond-haired classmate, and each responded in their own way. "Gee, Welch, looks like you really cleansed your aura," John told him. The joke behind that was that Alicia had lead a small group in aura cleansing, a yoga technique she had learned that removed negative energy.

"Yeah, look how clean it is," Mike responded as he activated an energy aura. A lot of gasps were heard at that time, a slight cry of alarm was uttered by the teacher, and DJ's response was "Hey Welch, it looks like you'll be our star receiver next season. You can fly up, and I'll just toss it into the air and watch you float into the end zone." DJ was the quarterback for the football team, and his greatest common bond with Mike was that they played on the same team together.

"Yeah, but he still won't be as good as I am," Alex threw in. Alex was one of the receivers for the team during the past season, and had had a good season.

"Or you can have me be a halfback," Mike said. "You can give me the ball, and then I can just-"

Mike used his instant transmission technique, and reappeared across the room. He finished his sentence

"-do this," without so much as an audible pause, only a shift in the direction of the sound.

"Well, with all your new skills, I hope your memory has improved," Mrs. Jameson said with a small grin. She was usually quite no-nonsense, but no one could stop a smile from crossing their face under the circumstances.

"Yeah, it has. Along with concentration," Mike told her. He then powered down, took his seat, and pulled out his fully completed math homework.

"Now I know you've changed," Alicia told him with a grin. "The homework is done. This is a rare occasion."

Mike threw her a mock nasty look, then shifted his attention to the class.

"Where did you learn to do that?" Alicia asked Mike at the end of class.

Mike thought about how to answer that question. "Through my church," was the best answer he could offer without sounding too mystic.

Alicia knew there was more to it, and conveyed it with the look she gave Mike, but asked no more questions. Mike then headed to his cafeteria study hall, where he did the same thing he always did. He walked in, set his backpack on the table, then sat on the bench facing away from the table. After a few minutes, Mack showed up. He put his backpack down in the same fashion, then headed for Mike's table.

"Man, I love being a Super Saiyan," he said.

Mike raised one eyebrow. "You? A Super Saiyan? Not yet, pal. You have a lot of work to do before that happens," he said. "But I'll bet you have a lot more fun with what power you have."

Mack smiled. "You have no idea. I accidentally bumped into some big, fat guy in the hall today, and he grabbed me by the shirt and put me up against a wall, called me a stupid freshman. I told him 'Actually, I'm a sophomore', and powered up an aura - which blew him back and made him let go. He got the hell out of there, and nobody's gonna mess with me again."

Mike's face was fixed in a frown. "Don't use your power as a first resort," he said with a slight amount of conviction. "You may be strong, but there's always someone better out there," he said as his eyes flickered green and his hair flashed blond momentarily.

Mack then gave Mike the dirty look. "And who's the one better than you?" he inquired.

Mike pointed skyward. "Him," he told Mack.

Joe Cunningham glared at that big fat-ass Mike from across the room, no one noticing him. But it seemed like that was always the way it was, everyone hanging around with Mike, listening to his damn jokes, watching him flaunt his fancy powers, and Joe sitting there, no one around. He could have dated Alicia, but no - Mike had to ruin that, too. Told her he wasn't her type, he was mean, that Mike had a 'bad feeling'. So he hit a little reefer occasionally, had a beer or two at night, that didn't mean that his true love should leave him forever. Mike had ruined it all. He thought to himself, _I would do anything to be able to beat him up. I'd sell my soul to the devil to have his fancy-ass Super Duper 4 or whatever it was._

And as if it had always been there, an awareness of his energies awoke. He felt a small amount of light energy leave, and felt a momentary emptiness. Then, a dark power took its place and Joe grinned. He felt the immense strength, the darkness, the evil coursing through his body. He glared at Mike again, and then broke into an evil grin.

Mike felt a power awaken for a short moment, somewhere on the other side of the study hall. Mack felt it too, and turned to scan the room.

"Don't do that," Mike whispered. "I felt the energy, too. But there was a lot of it, more than you can hope to handle." But Mack knew that what he meant was, _More than even I can handle._

"Don't worry about it. If it becomes a problem, we'll deal with it." Mack then returned to his seat, and thought about what had happened.

_That was some strong-ass energy. It was a lot more than what I have, and it felt like more than Mike has. But that's impossible, Mike's had his power for like a month and he trains with Matt every day. He can take the kid, whoever they are. And if not, the two of them will smoke him like a pack of Camels. Or, I can just use my Genocide Slash attack and cut him in half._

Mike was also contemplating the situation.

_If I didn't know any better, I'd say that was Joe Cunningham, the pothead boozer psycho trash bag who stalked Alicia for like a month. But if that was him, and he harnessed all the hate he has for me, we could have a real issue here._

_Mack is pretty deep in thought, and from the energy he's emitting he's thinking the same thing. That kid has been fighting his demons ever since the accident._

_The accident that claimed his mother's life, and stopped his sister, Danni Jo, from walking. His dad had to quit his job so that he could take care of DJ. Mack does what he can to pay the bills now, what with his decal business and all. But I know that he'd much rather have a family without missing members, or anyone seriously hurt. If nothing else can teach someone about drunk driving and its repercussions, that can._

_But if he found a way to tap into what he's capable of he could become every bit as powerful as I am, maybe more. If that happens, and Matt and Dan both join in at full power, we should be able to stop him before he grows too strong._

Dan felt the energy from his classroom as well.

_Holy hell, that was from across the school where Mike and Mack are. I could barely sense Mike there, couldn't even lock on to Mack's energy, but I felt that clear as day. I was hoping to show Mike that I can go Super Saiyan 2 during a spar, but it seems like that might turn into a real combat situation._

James could sense the power from his class.

_That felt kinda like Mike's power, but a lot more evil and a lot stronger. That guy would smoke even Mike, and he's stronger than all of us. We're in trouble, this is bad._

Sarah also felt the power. A chill ran through her, and she turned pale.

_That was even more power than Mike has. A lot more power. I hope he'll be okay, with Matt and Dan around he should be fine. I hope so, at least._

Matt could feel it from his study hall too.

_Damn, that guy was strong. He was stronger than me, stronger than Mike too. We won't be able to beat him on our own. Everyone will have to team up, or at least give us their energy. Otherwise we're up a crick._

After contemplating what might happen, all the Z Warriors, as Mike affectionately referred to them, were able to calm down and concentrate on their classes, or on goofing off in their study halls.


	4. Chapter 4: Preparations

"Okay, everyone. I brought us all here for a reason," Mike said at the top of Mount Everest. The group was there so that no one could sense the gathering of energy. He used Instant Transmission, and everyone had summoned an aura, so they would be fine for at least a few minutes. Mike sat down, and looked toward the group.

"I'm sure you all felt that power surge during school today." Heads nodded, and a collective groan of acknowledgement rose from the group.

"And so," Mike continued, "I'm equally sure you all felt that it was powerful. Even more so than Matt and myself."

The group looked a bit scared at hearing a confirmation of what they all thought might be true, but also nodded.

"I guess this is the moment we've all been waiting for," James said.

"I'd call it the moment we've all been biting our nails because of," Mike responded. "But instead of sitting idly by, I'd say this is an opportune time to train like hell. We need to become stronger if we want any hope of beating this guy." Then Mike stood up, and held out a hand to Sarah. She took it, the rest of the group joined hands as well, and Mike transmitted them back to school.

"Matt and I will continue to train together, since we're the strongest. Mack, I know Dan is a lot stronger right now but you can train with him. If you can become a Super Saiyan before the shit hits the fan, it'll help a lot. Sarah, you and James can train together."

Sarah looked at him. "You mean I'm supposed to train, too? I'll never be strong enough to fight someone more powerful than you. What's the point?"

Mike's anger bubbled up at this, and he became a Super Saiyan involuntarily. "For starters, this guy will probably attack you anyway if he finds out you're important to me. And that makes me vulnerable, which is bad since I'm the most powerful one here. So you need to be able to defend yourself. Besides, you could become a very powerful asset in the battle if you play your cards right. Now, we need to show our folks what we can do, tell them what's happening, and get them to excuse us from school for a few days. We need solid training for a while." Mike and Matt then transmitted home, leaving the remaining four Z fighters to fly to their homes.

"Alright," Sarah groaned, "let's begin."

"You don't sound very excited," James said as he began to gather energy. An aura burst from his body, and his hair fluttered. Sarah activated her aura as well, and let her energy flow into her hands. She'd seen Mike do this trick before.

A small ball of white energy appeared in Sarah's hands. She threw them at James, then instantly formed two more and fired them. She fired a volley of energy balls at James, knowing that at least one was bound to hit him.

James formed an invisible barrier around him, and the balls struck the barrier. Each one exploded on contact, leaving James in a cloud of smoke. When it cleared, James flew across the field at Sarah, a fist extended. He struck her squarely on the jaw, sending her flying backward. She smashed through a tree trunk, and lay on the ground in a daze.

"I-I thought we were just training," Sarah uttered.

James's aura grew in size slightly. "Mike's idea. He told me not to hold back on you at all. I'm supposed to hit you with everything I've got!" he shouted as he flew at Sarah, his eyes glowing. An eye beam was coming, Sarah couldn't block energy attacks well, and she was powerless to dodge.

"Leave me alone!" she screamed. But, as she did, her eyes shone a pure white light. Her aura burst into being once more, and a wave of white energy exploded from her mouth. The blast hit James, and blasted him into the sky. After careening out of control for a few hundred feet, James finally regained his composure. Sarah was as astonished as James after this shocking display of power.

"It's called a Siren Song," Mike said. he transmitted to where Sarah lay, and helped her to her feet. "It can blast a hole in dimensions in some cases. You've mixed it with energy, and it has become a deadly attack."

Sarah looked at Mike. "Will this help us out?"

Mike grinned. "If you stick with your training, and practice that attack, it could knock Joe to the ground without a doubt. That attack is more powerful than someone with your strength would be able to perform under normal circumstances. In all honesty, I don't know why it is that powerful. It just is."

As Sarah and James began to duel again, Mike transmitted back to his battleground where Matt was.

As soon as he appeared, Matt struck him with a roundhouse kick that sent him soaring. Mike quickly regained his composure, and transmitted behind Matt. Matt tried to turn around with a kick, but Mike caught his leg. He then grabbed the other one, and began to swing Matt around. He spun at breakneck speeds, and the two warriors became a barely visible blur of speed.

Then, without warning, Mike let go.

Matt hurtled through a wooded patch of land, flew out the other side, and smashed halfway through a hillside. He finally righted himself, and transmitted directly in front of Mike. He struck Mike in the gut with a knee. Mike's eyes bulged, he lost his wind, and he clutched his stomach. He then got his strength back as quickly as he had lost it, and extended a foot into Matt's abdomen. Matt suffered similar pain. The two then exchanged a volley of kicks and punches so fast that none of the other Z fighters could have seen it. However, they could feel the impact of the blows being blocked - which let off shock waves with intensity similar to a hydrogen bomb, but dissipating much more quickly.

Mack fired a huge volley of energy blasts at Dan, who deflected them all in different directions. Dan unleashed a melee of physical attacks upon Mack, who blocked and parried with all the speed he could muster - which was enough, because Dan never landed a hit on him. Dan then transformed into a Super Saiyan, and Mack was helpless to stop him. Dan's power had increased to the point where Mack had to dodge an attack to avoid taking considerable damage. But, his speed had increased to the point where Mack couldn't hope to dodge every attack.

After taking a severe beating, Mack was bashed to the earth. He lay in a crater that was formed by the impact, and seethed at his own weakness. He was so angry that he had been thrashed so soundly, and Dan not even short of breath, that he just wanted to explode - do anything to defeat Dan!

A surge of power came from Mack's direction, then another. His energy began to steadily increase. He stood up, the debris he had been laying in floating toward the sky because of the energy he was releasing. Dan watched calmly. James stared. Sarah gasped a bit. Matt seemed to pay no heed. Mike smiled. Mack's hair flickered upward, then settled again. It flickered, then settled. His pupils faded out of vision, then reappeared. His pupils faded and his hair flickered, and then flashed gold. His aura flickered gold, then became red again. Mack released a primal cry of rage, and his aura of red became a pure gold. His eyes became a pure white, then turned green. His skin tone lightened, and his hair stood upward, a platinum blond.

"Alright! He did it! He's a Super Saiyan!" Mike exclaimed.

Mack turned toward Dan, a look of unrest and anger in his eyes. Their battle ensued, with an intensity and speed unfathomable to Mack before his transformation. Mike titled his head to the right, and turned his eyes to the left. Matt's foot appeared, and zoomed past where Mike's head had been. Their battle started up again as well, but the only way for anyone to tell was the unusual wind and impact waves. Sarah and James also began training again, and the time progressed. After a week of solid training, Mike was very pleased with the results.

Dan had made his Super Saiyan 2 abilities known during a particularly intense training session, and was now on the brink of becoming a Super Saiyan 3. Mack was able to tap into more energy, but no extra speed, so he became what Mike referred to as an Ascended Super Saiyan - his speed was the same as a normal Super Saiyan, but muscle mass had increased dramatically and power had taken an enormous jump. James had developed strength and speed about equivalent to a Super Saiyan, but seemed unable to transform. Sarah's ability to deflect and block energy blasts had been well learned. Her strength had also increased a bit, but her speed had increased exponentially - she was less powerful than James, but faster than Dan at Super Saiyan 2. And her Siren Song attack was as powerful as ever - even Mike and Matt had to put forth a small amount of effort to block it. The group felt they would be ready.

Mike's alarm went off. It was 6:30, an entire hour later than he normally had to get up. _Instant Transmission is wonderful,_ Mike thought to himself as he woke up. He headed for the bathroom, took his shower, dried off with an aura, and then woke Matt up so he could do the same. Mike put on his new favorite outfit - His dark black pants, and a bright white Adidas shirt with a black symbol in the middle. The two transmitted to school at about 7 o'clock, and Mike headed to that spot in the cafeteria where his friends and comrades could be found. By 7:15, the whole group had gathered. They hung around for a while, and then headed for their classes. Mike noticed his ex, Andrea Krause, heading down the hallway. She had a small jar of ink in her hand. Her new boyfriend headed for her, and she splashed a little ink on him. "Now you're branded as my sex slave," she said as she giggled and jumped up and down, a cheesy grin upon her face. She then ran to Mike, and threw the ink on his shirt. "Now you're branded as my sex slave," she said. "I wonder what Sarah will think of that," she said. The tone of voice told Mike that she and Sarah did not see eye to eye.

_If you take that in a literal sense, even I don't see eye to eye with Sarah, _Mike thought in the back of his head. But the front of his mind screamed rage at what had happened to his shirt. It was really rather trivial, but for whatever reasons it made him so angry he couldn't contain it. Even with the greatest amount of restraint, Mike couldn't help becoming a Super Saiyan. A golden aura burst forth from him, and blew Andrea down the hallway. Mike hovered a few inches off the ground, his feet together. He then slowly flew to his next class. The day was quite uneventful, until his biology class.

One person in Mike's biology class was Jamie Johnson - a basketball buff who was very smart, and nice to most people. She was also undeniably attractive - she was the standard by which most of Mike's friends judged what was 'hot'. She had a dark tan, big dark eyes, and black hair. She had a well-defined figure - which wasn't quite flaunted, but Jamie did make most people aware of it. She got along with Mike quite well.

Mike's biology teacher would often poke some good-natured fun at Jamie, and today was no different. Mike watched as Jamie was teased playfully by the teacher. Up until third period, Mike had maintained his Super Saiyan transformation fueled by pure anger. During third period, his math teacher had decided that today was a good day to lecture him. He erupted into Super Saiyan 2, and when told "Don't you flash your energy at me, mister," he flew right into Super Saiyan 3. His aura melted the desk he was sitting in, so he hovered for the entire period. He was still at Super Saiyan 3, so he sensed the danger very quickly.

The class had noticed the window looking brighter, and without warning a red blast was headed for it. It flew through the window without breaking it, and was about to hit Jamie. The blast would undoubtedly kill her and destroy the science hall of the school, and most likely the entire building.

Mike flew in front of it, and with a swift kick sent it flying back out the window and off over the horizon.

"Wow, you saved my life," Jamie told him. The thought of doing something good even when this whole day had gone bad made Mike smile. He turned around and looked at her, and noticed her looking right into his green eyes. Hers shone with emotion, his flickered with power.

"Of course I did. If I didn't save the girl, I wouldn't be much of a superhero, now would I?" he said with his most charming smile bared. He then returned to his seat.

At the end of the class, Jamie found Mike. A quick tug on his Super Saiyan 3 hair got his attention, but also hurt her hand a little.

"Sorry about that," he sheepishly said. "But it's not just a dye that is released when I transform. That's pure energy, running through even my hair."

Jamie threw a seductive grin at Mike. "You know, the superhero usually kisses the girl, too." She walked toward him. "You saved me. Just me. That means something. " She leaned forward for a small kiss...

and met two fingers held in the air, blocking her attempt.

"The irony of this is almost painful," Mike softly told her. "Had I had this opportunity before I met Sarah, I won't lie. I probably would have transmitted us to a place where we would never be found and stay there for a long time."

Jamie smiled a bit. "But?"

Mike looked directly into her eyes, still glowing with desire. "But I already do know Sarah. And I'm in love with her. I could never do this, it wouldn't be right."

Jamie then scowled at him. "Then what was the point of singling me out, saving me? Didn't that mean something?"

Mike held up his hands. "To be perfectly honest, I didn't save only you," he offered. "That blast would have killed everyone in the room, and probably the hallway as well. You just happened to be in the point of impact."

She looked back into his eyes, burning with a cosmic power she knew she could never understand. And this wasn't even his strongest form.

"It was that strong?" she said, getting a handle on her emotions.

"It's a good thing I had a bad day," he told her. "If I wasn't Super Saiyan 3, I might not have been able to deflect that."

"Well I'm sorry I asked you to do that," she told him.

Mike touched Jamie's shoulder, and she turned around. He embraced her warmly. "Don't get the wrong idea," Mike said to her. "You're very important to me. But I love Sarah," he said.

Jamie looked at him skeptically. "You think you know love?" she told him.

Mike looked back at her. "I've known true anger, true fear, and true happiness. There's only one other powerful emotion I wasn't fully aware of, until now." He then left, and she headed for her next class.


	5. Chapter 5: Insurance and Inconvenience

_Damn him, _Joe thought. _He was at Super Saiyan 3! He would have never stopped that blast otherwise. I didn't know Jamie was under his control as well._

_First he takes Alicia away from me, and now I found out that Jamie likes him better than she does me. Don't they realize? Don't they know that I am the one with the real power? I'm only a Super Saiyan, and at my current level I could defeat Mike at Super Saiyan 3. But no matter. Soon I'll take my Alicia, and Mike will attempt his chivalrous rescue. Then, I'll kill him! He'll feel the pain that I felt when Alicia said she didn't love me. I'll teach him about suffering and loss. He'll know how evil I am soon enough._

As Sarah walked down the hallway, she accidentally bumped into Joe Cunningham. She remembered Mike telling her about what had happened between Alicia and that guy. She felt kind of bad, but couldn't really blame Alicia for what she had done. Joe had a lot of problems, and on top of it all he was mean. In fact, he was a total asshole.

"Sorry," she muttered to him.

He stopped her. "I know what you are, and what you can do. I'm the one who was stronger than your little boyfriend. And soon, I'll kill him. And you as well." And then he walked away, as if nothing had happened.

"Joe's the one," she said when she saw Mike after school. "He talked to me in the hallway. He's the one with more power than you, and he said he's going to kill you!"

Mike looked at her as if he had come to some grand conclusion. "That makes sense! Joe! That explains the attack on Jamie," he said.

"What happened?" Sarah asked him.

"A blast flew through the biology window earlier today," Mike told her. "It was headed at Jamie. I'd been having a bad day, could you feel my power?"

"Yeah," Sarah responded. "It felt like you were at Super Saiyan 3," she said.

"That's because I was," Mike told her. "And if I hadn't been, everyone in the 600 hall during seventh period would have been a crispy critter." Mike shook his head. "But now that we know who it is, we can do something more to train."

"Such as?" Sarah asked him.

"Okay, people, listen up," Mike said. "We have to have a backup plan. I think we'll be okay, but just in case I want to be able to use a new technique: Fusion."

He then handed each of them a silver ring. "These are fusion rings," he said. "If we are in real trouble, two of us can put these on. They will fuse together, and become a warrior much greater than the sum of its parts. But we only use them in pairs, because otherwise we might have too much power to handle."

"Where did you get these?" Dan asked him.

"God gave me my power," Mike said. "I can transmit even to heaven. These were made from the metal of an angel's harp, so they will turn gold when the fusion is complete. And I know they will all fit, God himself made them for us."

Mike then looked hard at the group. "But this is a last ditch effort. We are only to use these in dire straits, okay?"

Everyone nodded.

Mike was driving in his mother's car, headed for Sarah's house. He wanted to surprise her with a new technique he'd learned, making an orb that looked like a bubble, but was indestructible. A police officer thought something was wrong, so he turned on his lights.

"Oh, great," Mike said to himself. "Now I'll never get to drive again." The cop walked to his car, asked for his license, and then saw the orb. "What is that?" asked the officer.

"A present. I'm going to give it to my girlfriend," Mike told him.

The cop looked at him. "What kind of presents glow, and are all mystically colored?" he asked.

_The ones that are made of pure energy, _Mike thought to himself. But he said nothing.

"Is there some kind of drugs on that?"

Mike looked at him. "No-"

"Don't try to fool me, son. I've been doing this too long. You damn teenagers are all the same. Step out of the car."

Mike did so, and the cop looked at his energy orb. _Man, I just wanted to give Sarah a little gift and Deputy Fife here decides to mess with me-_

"Son, I'll have to confiscate this. And here's your ticket."

Mike's hair flickered gold. "Ticket for what?" he inquired, anger slipping into his voice.

"For parking here," the officer told him, motioning toward the yellow line.

Mike turned Super Saiyan. "You pulled me over! Would you have rather had me keep driving!?"

The cop placed another ticket. "And here's one for obstruction of justice. Don't you flick your wig off around me, and don't backtalk me."

Mike looked at the cop, a countenance of obvious annoyance on his face. "So far, you've given me two idiotic tickets for crimes I didn't commit, and stolen my girlfriend's present. This will not go unchallenged, I'll see your ass in court."

"All rise," the bailiff said. Instead of wearing a suit, Mike had donned his battle gear - a black pair of loose-fitting pants, his black boots, a white shirt tucked into his pants, and his leather jacket. He was a Super Saiyan, and was obviously annoyed by this unnecessary inconvenience.

The judge walked in, and they all sat down. Mike 'listened to' the case open.

"Case number 5-72blah, state of blah blah versus blah blah under the blah of blah blah, would Mike Welch please take the stand."

Mike floated out of his seat, and hovered to the stand. He floated in, and sat down.

A lawyer for the prosecution then began to talk, and Mike intently 'listened' to that as well.

"Exhibit blah blah lie, showing lie lie blah blah hint of truth and blah lie hint of truth."

Mike saw him holding up the orb.

"Hey, that's mine," he said.

"Young man, that is evidence," the judge said, but even as she did Mike was floating it toward himself. He held it in his hand, and as he clenched a fist it shrank. When he opened his hand again, it was gone.

"Your honor, he just destroyed Exhibit A!" the lawyer screamed.

"Fine, you can have it back," Mike sighed. He held up a hand as if displaying an object, but nothing was there. Then, a small white orb appeared in his hand. It grew larger, until it was the size of the one before. Then, Mike's eyes flashed white, and the energy orb hardened into a type of glowing, shimmering crystal orb. "Here," Mike said as he tossed it at the lawyer. He caught it, and stared at Mike.

"I decided to represent myself in this case, since after you hear what I have to say you will realize that I got the shaft."

"I'm not done yet," the lawyer told Mike.

"Yeah, you are," Mike said as he tossed an energy bolt at the lawyer. It struck him in the torso, and threw him into a chair.

"Bailiff, remove him," the judge said, a hint of panic in her voice.

Mike held out his hands for the cuffs, which were promptly slapped on his wrists. He then changed his density to water, and the cuffs fell through his wrists. A cop tried to put him in a hammerlock, but for all the success he was having he might have been attempting to do so to a statue. Mike looked at him, annoyed, and flicked his wrist. The bailiff was thrown against the wall.

"Now, as I was about to say before I was so rudely interrupted, I have done nothing wrong."

"Assaulting a bailiff and escaping from cuffs isn't considered wrong?" the lawyer asked him.

"Let me finish," Mike told him. "The bailiff thing was self-defense. He was attacking me. So that you can all forget about." Mike floated in the air. "Now, about the charges I was brought here on. Supposedly, there were narcotics in the orb he had. Now, if that were true and I absorbed it into my hand, I would be unable to talk clearly right now, I'd be so high. And, I wouldn't be able to make a new one. So we all know that's false. The other thing I got dinged for was parking in an illegal-parking zone. That was where I was pulled over, and I decided that I was better off doing that then evading an officer. So I think that I should be acquitted of all the stuff I got in trouble for, on account of my not actually doing any of it."

After a half-hour of deliberation, the jury found Mike not guilty of all charges. Some smelling salts for the bailiff, and the incident was forgotten. Mike considered it a pretty lucky day, all in all.


	6. Chapter 6: Uphill Battle

"Okay, this is the last training I'm going to organize. I think that from here on out, we can all train at our own paces. We should be fine as we are, all of us together. Mack, you're now a Super Saiyan 2. Dan, you're pushing the limits of Super Saiyan 3. James you've finally transformed. And Sarah, well, your power has increased greatly but is still quite a bit less than James's. But, you're as fast as I or Matt are. But just in case, a little more training couldn't kill us."

Then, a blast came toward them.

Everyone got out of the way except James. He was struck with the blast, and didn't move. Mike sensed that he was still alive, but would never be able to fight in the condition he was in.

"Okay, now the time has come," Joe told them. "Alicia broke my heart because of you," he said, pointing at Mike. "It was broken so badly that now it's gone," he said. "I have the heart of a demon. Joe is dead. You can call me Demonheart."

Mike was angry. "Okay, Demonheart, I'm Mike. And I'm about to kick your ass."

Mike then transformed into a Super Saiyan. He was surprised when Demonheart did the same.

"What, did you think you were the only ones who could go Super Saiyan?" he said coldly. "And I'm sure you can feel that your strength at Super Saiyan is nowhere near as much as mine."

Mike then transformed into a Super Saiyan 2, then a Super Saiyan 3. "Now we should be able to fight on an even level."

Demonheart became a Super Saiyan 2, and his power far surpassed Mike's again. "But I like having an advantage."

Demonheart then flew in faster than even Mike could react, and sank a knee into his stomach. Mike's eyes bulged out, his mouth hung open, and he could feel nothing but pain. He had never been hit like that before in all his life.

Demonheart then smashed the back of Mike's head with an elbow, and Mike saw a painfully bright flash. He was smashed into a crater several feet deep.

He pulled himself out, and transformed into a Super Saiyan 4. Now the advantage was distinctly Mike's.

"You won't get away with another one of those, I promise you," Mike told him. Demonheart became a Super Saiyan 3, but still was not quite as powerful as Mike.

"Well, what do you know," Demonheart said. "I have to bare it all in order to beat you." And Demonheart's eyes flickered amber, his hair shortened and became black. His fur was also a dark, deathly black. He summoned an aura, and even that was black energy. "I have surpassed you by far, and you know it as well as I do. My power is greater than yours."

He slammed a fist into Mike's stomach, virtually crippling him for a time.

"And I'm faster than her," he said as he tried to attack Sarah. They moved so fast that even Mike struggled slightly to follow it, but then he saw a kick strike Sarah. She flew to the ground in a heap, and didn't move. Mike felt her power slowly draining, but _somehow it didn't feel like enough to be her power. Oh, good Lord, that's not her energy, that's her life force. She's dying._

A tear fell from Mike's amber eye, trickled down his redlined eye socket, and was soaked up by the fur around his collar.

"You - you killed her..." Mike said. He was shaking uncontrollably, then his power leapt.

"You took my love from me! _This will not go unchallenged!!" _Mike screamed, as all of his rage, grief, and anxiety combined to create more power. Then, after it seemed like Mike would energize forever, he stopped. He stared blankly into space, as if being struck in the stomach again.

Then, he exploded.

A bright flash of white was thrown from his body as Demonheart laughed uncontrollably.

"He's dead! I didn't even have to kill him, all I did was kill his girlfriend and he destroyed himself! It was too easy!"

Suddenly, as if a light had come on, everyone felt a power where Mike's body had been. They also realized that the power was a lot like Mike's. In fact, it was Mike's, except substantially greater.

His body had taken on the appearance of a Super Saiyan 2, except for two major changes. Instead of lightening his skin tone, he had developed a dark tan. And, his eyes glowed pure white. He looked at Demonheart, and simply seeing him caused Mike's aura to explode in size.

"Wow, I haven't pulled that one off yet," Demonheart told him.

"And you never will," Mike stoically responded. "My own loss has unlocked this power. You have no emotions, so you will never know what it feels like to be a Ganguro Saiyan."

"A what?" Dan asked from below.

"Ganguro Saiyan," Mack told him. "In Japan, there are girls called Ganguro girls who have dark tans, but bright blond hair. Mike's heard of them, too. I guess he named his new transformation after it - which makes sense, he has one hell of a tan but his hair is still Super Saiyan blond."

Mike and Demonheart then clashed in battle. A flurry of punches and kicks left neither man with an advantage, or even with a successful attack. Both fired energy volleys at each other, but other than a large crater and a lot of smoke nothing happened there, either. Finally, Demonheart lashed out at Mike. He smashed him into the ground, and then fired a volley of attacks. When the smoke cleared, Mike was there, in a heap.

Sarah's hand twitched. She was still alive. However, she was unable to move at the moment. After a little while, she rose from her hole in the ground. She felt Mike's energy level drop, all the way down to hers, and then descend farther. She knew he was in trouble, because Demonheart's was still as strong as ever. She didn't want to see her boyfriend die. He hadn't trained her because he needed another ally, he did it so she would be safe. She then thought about it, and realized that everything Mike did for her was so that she would be happy, she would be safe.

Mike was dying. But he loved her, and she knew it now as well as he did.

She didn't know whether she loved him or not, but she knew that she cared for him and she also knew that she wouldn't just watch him die.

Then, she snapped.

Sarah's white aura shifted to gold, and her eyes turned white. Then, they shifted to a light green. Her long hair stood straight up, and came together in tufts with little definition. Sarah had become a Super Saiyan.

The first thing she did was to fly to Demonheart, and try to stop him however she could. "Get away from him!" she shouted with all her might, and the Siren Song was activated. The attack had always been strong, but with Sarah's Super Saiyan powers it was incredible. Demonheart was blown a half-mile from where he had been, and when he got back he wasn't happy. Demonheart struck her to the ground, and she wasn't as badly hurt but she knew there was nothing she could do. She powered down and waited for a better opportunity.

Demonheart appeared behind Dan as though he had always been there, and kicked him in the lower back. Dan let out a cry of pain, and fell to the ground. He fell out of his transformation and lay on the ground, unable to move.

"There, a quick sneak attack to remove the next strongest," Demonheart said. "I'm about to kill Mike, anyone care to stop me?"

Matt powered up to Super Saiyan 4, and tried his hand at stopping Demonheart. However, he was struck with a blast that sent him flying. He didn't come back.

Mack powered up, transformed to Super Saiyan 2, and attacked Demonheart. He hit him with every attack he threw at him, but not a single one fazed Demonheart. He then turned around, and backhanded Mack, who crumpled to the ground.

_It's over, _Mack thought. _Sarah's dead, Dan's crippled, Mike's as good as dead and James has been put down before this even began. My friends are going to die and there's nothing I can do about it. This is the second time I've seen someone close to me die, someone else close to me be crippled, and me unable to help._

A sinister voice then spoke to Mack.

_You will always suffer._

"No," Mack uttered softly. "I won't let this end the same way."

_You're helpless. More people you care about will suffer, and so will you._

"I have to do something. You have to leave."

_We will never leave. We are here to make your life hell, and will do so until it ends._

"No," Mack demanded, rising from the ground. "You can't control me." He turned to Demonheart. "And you can't kill my friends. I won't allow it..."

Mack then saw a vision within his head - the demons. Mike had always said he was fighting his demons. Now, a ball of essence that was Mack himself opened up. The demons flew in, and tried to take over but were overpowered, their energies taken to benefit the being they tried to destroy.

Mack let out a scream of rage, as a six-inch bone spike shot out from each knee. He assumed a battle stance, and the same thing happened to his elbows. His knuckles grew small spikes of bone, and his hair solidified, then became a bony material. His shoulders sprouted large bony spikes, giving him a look similar to suits of space-age armor worn by the Saiyans these fighters named themselves after. His skin turned gray, and solidified so that it made an excellent armor. His eyebrows disappeared, and his eyes glowed a bright red.

He let out a roar of rage as he attacked Demonheart. Demonheart put out one forearm to block the punch, but Mack's bony knuckles sliced him. Demonheart yelped in pain, and turned to face his grotesque foe.

"Another transformation I don't have!" he shouted. "What are you supposed to be?"

"You know nothing of having the heart of a demon," Mack boomed in a low, ominous voice. "I have had demons in my heart for years. Now they are a part of me. I have become a Demonic Saiyan."

Mack and Demonheart then locked into a fierce melee battle. Neither could get an edge on the other, but Mack was inflicting more damage - his new physical makeup gave him a huge advantage. Demonheart's attacks still hurt him, but not as much with his new skin and bony plating. On the other hand, Mack's sharp, bony knuckles made every attack Demonheart blocked cause him damage - and make him more reluctant to block the next one. Demonheart was now using all his efforts to dodge Mack's attacks. Finally, he found an opening. He sank his fist deep into Mack's stomach. His red eyes bulged, and he gasped for air. Demonheart struck him in the head with a kick, and sent him careening into the ground face first. Mack lay there in a heap, not far from where Mike had taken his beating.

"Hey Mack," Mike uttered. His voice was weak, and Mack could barely hear him.

"Sorry, man," he responded in his deep, gravelly voice. "I tried to stop him."

"Neither of us is powerful enough to stop him on our own. But I have a better idea," Mike said as he held up a silver Fusion ring. He slipped in onto the ring finger of his right hand. Mack's bulged knuckles made him put it onto his pinky finger. The rings glowed, and Mike clenched a fist. Mack did the same. The two were pulled together by an unknown force, being dragged through the air by their fists.

"Wow, the two are going to try a united front," Demonheart said to himself. "Maybe between the two of them, they will be able to stop me." He laughed. "But I doubt it."

Their fists struck each other, and both warriors began to glow a bright white. They slowly turned back to back, still glowing white, and 3 orbits or energy circled them, making them appear like an atom model. Then, the orbits closed around the two, and a bright flash ensued.


	7. Chapter 7: E Pluribus Unum

When Demonheart could see again, he looked down to see a totally new warrior. He wore Mike's leather jacket, Mack's pants, was smaller than Mike yet bigger than Mack. His hair was a crimson red, and stood on end in wisps like a Super Saiyan - except for his bangs, which stuck out to the side. His eyes were a pure white. He looked up at Demonheart, and smiled. "Now you're in for it," he said. The fighter then walked to where Dan was. He placed a hand on his back, and Dan was healed. He headed for Sarah, but when he touched her arm she let loose with her Siren Song. After she had run out of breath, the fighter stood there, unfazed. Demonheart was unable to believe it, and his jaw dropped.

"Who are you?" Sarah asked.

"Yeah, who are you?" Dan asked as well, walking toward the fighter.

As he walked toward James and healed him, he turned to face the entire group. "Do you know where Matt went?" two voices asked at once. They sounded familiar, but no one recognized them.

Sarah pointed to the south. "He's somewhere over there, but he isn't giving off much power. You'll be looking forever trying to find him."

The fighter transmitted away, and returned with Matt over his shoulder. He set Matt down, and began to heal him as well.

"Damn it, tell us who you are!" Dan demanded.

"Here's a clue," the fighter said. "Half of me is in love with you," he said, pointing at Sarah.

"And the other half isn't a huge fan of you," he said, pointing to Dan.

"That's Mike and Mack," Matt said. "Look at his finger."

A gold ring was there, identical to the fusion rings they all held except for the color.

"Mack and Mike have wanted these powers for a long time," the fighter explained. "They even came up with names for themselves. Mack is Genchen, and Mike is Lanzo. And since you really can't combine their real names, combining those two is the only option. So it goes without saying that you can call me Genzo."

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Genzo," Demonheart said. "I'm Demonheart-"

"Yeah, yeah," Genzo interrupted. "You're all powerful, you're gonna kill us all, Mike ruined your life so you'll end his, blah frickin' blah!" Genzo then turned to the other Z fighters. "You guys might want to get gone, I'll take care of this myself." And with that, Genzo flew upward to fight Demonheart.

Demonheart activated a black aura, ominous and looming. It made him appear very evil, and the sadistic grin he wore only added to it.

Genzo smiled, and activated an aura of his own. A red aura with flicks of gold and lightning bolts appeared around him, and was about 50 yards wide, 100 yards in height.

Demonheart was amazed at the power he was up against, but then pulled himself together. He knew that kind of aura had to be more style than substance.

He then doubled over, his eyes nearly popping out of his head, incapable of drawing breath.

Genzo had moved so quickly that his image had to catch up with the fighter himself. When it did, it showed what Demonheart already knew: Genzo's fist was buried in his abdomen, and it had effectively crippled him until he could breathe again. He saw Genzo's face, a sneer of disgust and anger. His other fist struck Demonheart across the face, causing his body to soar away from Genzo at breakneck speeds. Genzo then transmitted into his path, and struck him with a knee to the lower back. Demonheart let out a wail of agony, and left himself open for another attack. Genzo crossed his arms, and turned his back on Demonheart. "Bad things happened to you, and you blame it on everyone but yourself. Did it ever occur to you that laying off the booze and drugs might be beneficial to your chances with Alicia? Or with Jamie? Or might have even heightened your odds of winning this fight? Your body has taken so much substance abuse that you are nowhere near as strong as you could be. Granted, you probably wouldn't have beaten me anyway, but the fight would be more interesting."

Demonheart then tried to shoot Genzo in the back with a death beam - a highly concentrated beam of energy fired from one finger, designed not for utter destruction but an unblockable, piercing attack.

Genzo started to flip forward, then Demonheart lunged at him. He finished his flip, striking Demonheart in the back of the neck with his heel in a devastatingly powerful kick. Demonheart coughed, his eyes went fuzzy, and he fell out of his Super Saiyan 4 transformation. He stared at Genzo, rage welling up inside of him. As he screamed, he became a Super Saiyan 4 again. He then struck Genzo with a flurry of punches and kicks, each capable of reducing a diamond to dust. Genzo took this assault, and Demonheart then kicked him toward the ground. But, instead of falling into a heap and creating a crater, Genzo landed on his feet, as if he were a gymnast landing a dismount. He then looked up at Demonheart.

"You seem to be curious about transformations. Tell me, what do you get when you cross the darkness of the Demonic transformation with the fiery Ganguro transformation?"

Demonheart looked at him, bewildered.

"You get me. A Hellfire Saiyan," Genzo responded. Demonheart then created a small energy orb on the tip of his finger. It swelled into the size of an industrial complex, and Demonheart then compressed the huge energy to a size small enough to fit in his .

hand. He threw it at Genzo, hoping to stop him cold.

Genzo caught the blast with one hand, looked at it for a moment, then looked back at Demonheart. "You know, that's a dangerous attack. If I hadn't caught it, it could very well have destroyed the planet." He then blew out the energy as if snuffing out a candle.

Demonheart stared in amazement, then fired a huge volley of blasts at Genzo.

"Die, die, die!" he screamed, over and over again. When he was done, Genzo held the blasts in his arms, as if carrying a load of tennis balls.

"Whatever will I do with these?" he asked himself. Strands of energy then extended from his fingers, crisscrossing the armful of energy. He wove a net around it, and grabbed the end of it.

After transmitting behind Demonheart, he screamed out, "Here! These are yours!" as he hit Demonheart with the net full of attacks.

A cataclysmic explosion ensued, one that found Demonheart on the ground in a heap, and Genzo in the air, a barrier of energy surrounding him.

"Not so much fun, is it?" Genzo shouted down. "How does it feel to be lying in a hole after a far superior fighter has decided to attack you?"

"You are not a superior fighter to me!" Demonheart shouted as he attacked Genzo. He hit him with a volley of attacks, both energy blasts and physical attacks. He then smiled as he saw Genzo floating in the air, looking as though a truck had hit him.

"If you were superior to me, would that have happened?" Demonheart asked. "Come on! Aren't you even going to make this interesting?"

Genzo looked up, and blinked. All the fatigue and bruising that had been there disappeared, as if not truly inflicted - which it wasn't.

"Okay," he responded, and retaliated with an assault of his own. A kick to the head, a knee to the gut, a punch across the face, an elbow in the chest, a kick to the kidney, Genzo was very methodical in choosing his points of attack. He was also extremely effective, as the assault left Demonheart reeling. He slowly sank back to the ground, where he dropped to all fours, gasping for air. Genzo descended as well, and stood in front of Demonheart, arms crossed. "As I recall, you were saying something about the battle not being interesting. I am inclined to disagree. I found this fight to be very interesting. I've found your limits, and now I'm going to surpass them."

He grabbed Demonheart by the throat and held him at eye level. "Since we've seen you, the only thing you've tried to do is kill everyone. Death is not fun. Death is scary. Death is to be avoided."

He threw Demonheart in the air.

"And good luck avoiding death now, with me here!" he yelled as he chopped an arm through the air. "Genocide slash!" he shouted.

A crescent-shaped energy blade flew from his arm, slicing Demonheart across the chest.

"Loose Cannon!" he then shouted, extending his right hand outward and placing his left hand on his right forearm. A blast fired from the palm of his hand, and hit Demonheart, sending him soaring through the air. Demonheart then charged at Genzo, and hit him in the gut with a flying kick. Genzo looked at him, unscathed.

"Have it your way," he said. He grabbed Demonheart's right ankle with his left hand, grabbed his left ankle with his right hand, and swung Demonheart around. He swung him until Demonheart appeared a blur, even to Genzo. He swung him so fast, Demonheart nearly burst into flames. Then, he let him go. Demonheart soared so fast, he seemed unable to regain control of himself.

Genzo transmitted into his path, and held out his right arm. Demonheart was clotheslined so severely that his chin caught onto Genzo's arm, causing him to spin around his arm a half dozen times before tumbling to the ground.

"Alright, I hate to send someone to their death, but if I don't you will kill us all," Genzo said as he tossed Demonheart into the sky. He assumed a pose that made it look like he would fire another Loose Cannon, but then he began to glow red. His arms bulged with power, his eyes flared with lightning, and he finally fired his most powerful attack.

"_Genocide Cannon!!"_

A blast that appeared to be a Loose Cannon flew at Demonheart, but it was far more intense. It also was littered with Genocide Slashes, and upon impact Demonheart was doomed.

The crescents sliced Demonheart open in innumerable places, and the energy from the Loose Cannon did the rest. Demonheart's transformations all fell away.

"No longer will you hurt anyone," Genzo said.

As Demonheart was dissolved by the energy, Genzo knew that even though Demonheart had to be destroyed, Joe Cunningham did not deserve what had happened to him.


	8. Chapter 8: The Aftermath

"And that's what happened after you guys left," Mike said to the group. "But I do wish that there was something we could have done about Joe."

"Yeah, but if you had left Joe live, then Demonheart would still be around, too," James said. "So it was kind of out of your hands."

"I still can't believe the power that Genzo had," Mack said. "I saw it all firsthand, and it was such a rush. It was like being in a dream."

"That's actually a good way to describe the way it felt," Mike said. "You see it all happen, but really don't have much say in how or why it happens. But, still, it was amazing being a part of Genzo."

"That guy must have been incredibly strong," Sarah said. "Demonheart put us all down without much trouble, but Genzo took him out. I'll bet he was cute," she said, giving Mike a playful wink.

"Well of course he was," Mike told her, grinning. "After all, half of him was me."

"And I was the other half," Mack said.

"Good point," Mike said, suddenly looking thoughtful. He stroked his chin. "Maybe Genzo wasn't so cute after all."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Mack protested, as Sarah giggled. Dan smiled, and James laughed.

"Okay, I'll leave y'all alone now," Mike told the group. The Z fighters started to head off.

Mike grabbed Sarah's hand. "Except for you," he said. "I just had a cool idea, if you have nothing important to do for the next half-hour or so."

Sarah looked at him, then looked into space with a smile on her face. "I guess I have a few minutes," she said, looking back at him.

"Perfect," he said as he took her hand again. He flew above the clouds, taking her with him. "I've wanted to do this for a long time, ever since I first got my powers. I figured flying a few hundred feet in the air would make for a great view." He looked to west. "Wow, that's one hell of a sunset." He then stopped, and looked into Sarah's eyes. "If it was as beautiful as you are, I'd never leave the sky." He then pulled her close and kissed her. She wasn't sure what to think at first, but eventually realized she was enjoying it. She pulled him close, and the two locked in a kiss high above the rest of the world.

_There they are,_ Mack thought to himself, sensing their energies above his head. _It seems like Mike finally got his ass in gear. I'll let him enjoy this for a while._ Mack then walked into a downtown store where swords and the like could be purchased, and haggled with the owner.

"I know I'm not 18, but can't you let it go just this once?" he begged.

She smiled at him. "Sorry, but if you do something with it and get in trouble, it'll get traced back to me and they can have me fined or closed."

"Dammit," Mack muttered. "We're damn Saiyans," he said, walking out of the store. "Let's face it, we're above the law. Nothing humans have can stop us. We oughta just be immune from the laws. It'd make it easier to do a lot of the stuff we do." He smiled thinly. "Like when we have to kill our enemies, for example."

"That was fun," Sarah said after she landed. "You really know your way around from 500 feet in the air."

"No, I don't," Mike said as he touched down. "I can sense the energies of people at landmark places, and use that as a compass, so to speak."

"It's late," Sarah told him. "I need to be home in like five minutes."

"Hey, don't worry about it," Mike told her reassuringly. "So what if you're a little late? I've done it once or twice before, and I've yet to be executed."

"If you get me in trouble, I'm going to blame it all on you," Sarah giggled. "And then you'll never be able to see me again."

Mike took her hand. "In that case," he said as he pointed his other two fingers at his forehead.

They reappeared outside Sarah's door. "That's one chance I am not willing to take," Mike said. "Fighting against a tyrant substantially stronger than me in a cataclysmic battle that could very well determine the fate of the universe, that I can do."

He then smiled, hoping to get a smile from Sarah in return. It worked, and the continued.

"Fusing with a demonic meathead to destroy the most evil force in existence, I guess it wouldn't kill me."

He gazed into her eyes. "But living without you? That's where I draw the line."

Sarah's eyes became slightly misty. "You always have the right words," she said.

Mike smiled. "Well, everybody's got to be good at something," he said.

She gave him a playful grin. "You told me that when you gave me that first back massage, and when I learned about your Saiyan powers. You don't have to be that humble." She then walked into the house. "Bye," she softly said.

"Bye," he responded. Then, just like he did after anything good happened to him relating to women, he stopped in place. He closed his eyes. And he held up his right fist in a sign of victory.

Then, as an added bonus, he summoned a gold aura around his fist.


End file.
